As soon as the third round FA Cup draw was made there was one fixture that jumped out, the mouthwatering Manchester derby. City and United have been battling away all season in the league and now they have a chance to land a knockout blow in the cup.

I did the 3D coverage of City’s win over Liverpool for Sky and the Reds gifted the three points to the league leaders. However, City looked so solid at the back that Liverpool wouldn’t have scored all night. That’s the main difference between City and United at the moment.

City have Joe Hart and Vincent Kompany, while United have had a makeshift back four for the majority of the season and it’ll be interesting to see which keeper Sir Alex goes with. United’s defense is nowhere near the level it was a few weeks ago and the manager is really missing Nemanja Vidic. There have been six goals conceded in United’s defeats to Blackburn and Newcastle and they’ll face an even better opponent on Sunday.

At around 2.18 on BETDAQ, I cannot see past City continuing their imperious run of results at the Etihad Stadium.

The third round draw has thrown up another fascinating derby in the Midlands when Birmingham welcome Wolves to St Andrews. Even though there’s a league separating the clubs, the passion will be just as intense as ever. I expect tackles and challenges to be flying in everywhere and the referee needs to keep things in check.

Birmingham have struggled in recent weeks and their quick return to the top-flight looks a long way off now. Mick McCarthy has a far better squad to choose from and they were seconds away from taking a point from Chelsea last time out. Blues will put up a fight, but I’m siding with the visitors at a decent looking price.

Arsenal and Leeds sign off the third round weekend fixtures and I don’t see anything other than a comfortable home win. The Gunners showed their weaknesses once again at Craven Cottage, but they have been superb at home this year.

Leeds forced a replay at the same stage last year and were so close to going through if it were not for a late late penalty from Cesc Fabregas. The Gunners should cruise this one and I’m having some money on the home HT/FT double result – for good measure I also like the win to nil.

Betting on BETDAQ – Alan’s Punts:
Man City v Man Utd: Back City at 2.18
Birmingham v Wolves: Back Wolves at 3.2
Arsenal v Leeds: Back Arsenal the HT/FT double result at 1.82

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